Artist cast votes against the gun culture and culture of violence in the US.

CNN PRODUCER NOTE Georgia multimedia artist Michael Murphy shares his latest work -- a giant gun made from black ping pong balls, which he designed to make a statement about what he sees as the fetishization of weapons in America by creating 'a giant fetish object.' It is currently on view at the Association for Visual Arts in Chattanooga, Tennessee, through June.

Historically, secret societies have used little black balls to indicate a "no" vote.
In this installation, Murphy explains, the ping pong balls are 'like little votes against gun culture.' The large gun is 'designed to be beautiful and adored ... and I'm trying to show how inappropriate that is, on a massive scale.'

Last year, Murphy was commissioned to make a sculptural portrait of Barack Obama for Time Magazine. He has shared his artwork with iReport in the past under a different profile. To view more of Michael Murphy's work, visit his website.
- dsashin, CNN iReport producer

Artist Michael Murphy is known for his three dimensional renderings of flat images (see his sculptural portrait of President Obama), and large scale public installations. His latest work "Damage" is a sculpture composed of 1,200 suspended black ping pong balls which, when viewed from the right angle, form the shape of an assault rifle. The project is meant as a catalyst for a wider discussion on the controversial role guns play in today’s society.

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